QAHWA

arabian coffee

image Arabian coffee is very different from Turkish. The beans are roasted very lightly, whereas they are dark-roasted for Turkish coffee, and the coffee is boiled for a longer period, with the final result being a much lighter coffee in both color and taste. It is the only coffee that doesn’t keep me up at night. I was given the following recipe by Aisha al-Tamimi, a wonderful Qatari TV chef and cookbook writer who (together with her sister Maryam Abdallah, the first Qatari TV chef) has taught me many Qatari specialties. Their first recommendation was that I should buy the coffee roasted one and a half times. When I pressed them for clarification, they just said that the shop where I buy the coffee will understand—perhaps in Qatar, but certainly not in England or America! Still, after insisting, Aisha and Maryam finally explained that the coffee needs to be lightly roasted so the beans remain blond (ashqar). A good coffee store should be able to accommodate your request for lightly roasted beans. Optional are the spices ground with your coffee. All the amounts are minimal, but Maryam asks for a little saffron, clove, and cardamom to be ground with her coffee. You can add spices to your plain ground coffee to achieve the taste you like. This coffee is usually served out of a pot with a long spout, called a dalla. The traditional way to serve it is to stack the cups in your left hand and hold the dalla in your right hand, lifting one cup slightly with your fingers to pour coffee into it and offer it to a guest. Cups should be refilled as soon as they are empty. The way to indicate you no longer need a refill is by shaking the empty cup in your hand before placing it on the table.

SERVES 10

4 cups [960 ml] water

3 Tbsp lightly roasted ground coffee

2 whole cloves

11/2 tsp to 1 Tbsp ground cardamom

Good pinch of saffron threads

Pour the water into a saucepan, preferably one with a spout. Add the coffee and cloves and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.

If you have a dalla, put the cardamom and saffron in it; if you don’t, simply use a regular coffeepot or even a thermos. Pour the coffee over the spices, making sure you don’t pour in any of the grounds. Let sit for 10 minutes. Serve in small round cups that have no handles—the same cups Lebanese mountain people use for shaffeh (see page 159).